


broken hearts club

by seothsayers



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Gaming, Getting Together, Kissing, M/M, Past Mark/Yuta, Recreational Drug Use
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:36:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27197932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seothsayers/pseuds/seothsayers
Summary: Mark's hung up on a relationship that never was so the solution is clearly to get high, play games and maybe develop a crush along the way.
Relationships: Mark Lee/Wong Kun Hang | Hendery
Comments: 28
Kudos: 129





	broken hearts club

Mark realises when he’s halfway through a bottle of wine listening to Whitney Houston’s ‘Where Do Broken Hearts Go’ that he’s more torn up about this whole friends-with-benefits thing ending than he thought he was. 

It’s like it hits him right in the chest. One minute he’s lamenting the fact he’s losing out on a good fuck on the regular, the next he’s thinking about the fact that maybe the fact he didn’t want to get out of Yuta’s bed every time he stopped over was a sign. 

“Fuck.” He says to the empty apartment. No-one’s home – Donghyuck had rehearsals, Jaemin was in the library, Jeno had work and Renjun was on a date. Mark takes another swig from the bottle and slumps back against the sofa. “Fuck.”

That’s how Donghyuck finds him two hours later. The bottle’s empty now, has been for some time, and it’s pitch black because Mark had been too busy wallowing in his own pity to get up and turn on a light. His Spotify has run through all the tracks on the random sad playlist he’d put on at least twice by this point, Mark singing along quietly to himself. 

“Oh my fucking god.”

Mark opens his eyes to see Donghyuck stood above him, hands on his hips as he looks down at Mark. Donghyuck looks like he’s about to say something but then he narrows his eyes and drops into a crouch, bringing a hand up to Mark’s face. “Have you been  _ crying _ ?”

“No.” Yes. “Maybe just a little bit.”

Donghyuck closes his eyes. “Mark…”

Mark brings his hands to cover his face because Donghyuck’s giving him that look, one filled with pity and Mark can’t take the intensity because wine makes him emotional and he  _ will  _ cry. _ Again _ . 

“You should have phoned me. I would have told them it was an emergency.” Donghyuck pulls him to his feet and Mark latches onto him, sighing into his neck. “Come on, let’s get you to bed.”

“I think I really liked him.” Mark whispers once they’re in Donghyuck’s room. He lets Donghyuck strip him of his clothes and dress him in a pair of pyjamas – they’re Donghyuck’s but they’ve been sharing clothes for years so it might have been Mark’s at some point. 

“I know.” Donghyuck says. “I’m sorry it didn’t work out.”

Mark shrugs. “‘S okay. I’m over it.” Donghyuck gives him a look. “Okay, I’m not.”

“You will be though. You can’t rush this kind of thing.” Donghyuck says. 

“You’re so wise,” Mark mumbles. 

Donghyuck rolls his eyes. “Get into bed, I’ll grab you some water.”

Donghyuck’s bed is freshly made and Mark sinks into the sheets with a sigh. It doesn’t escape him that Donghyuck brought him in here, not to his own bedroom, where his own bed sheets lay messily about the place from where Yuta had kicked them  _ that morning _ before he rolled out of the bed and told Mark they should end things. Had it really only been 12 hours? Time works in funny ways when your heart’s hurt. 

When Donghyuck comes back into the room, Mark reaches out and holds onto his shirt. “You’re the best Hyuck,” Mark says, and maybe he’s about to cry again, just maybe. 

Donghyuck just hums and gets him to sit up, pressing the glass of water to his lips. 

…

Mark wakes up with the worst hangover of his life. He groans and buries his head under the covers. 

“No, you’re not hiding anymore. I’m kicking you out.” Donghyuck’s voice comes from somewhere above him. 

The covers are unceremoniously yanked from his fingers and Mark groans again, hands flying to cover his eyes from the light. 

“Breakfast is ready.” Donghyuck pokes at his thigh and moves on to pinching it until Mark gets up and swats his hand away. “Shower first though. It’ll do you good.”

“Yes boss.” Mark sighs and climbs out of the bed, letting Donghyuck march him to the bathroom. 

The shower does help. The hangover is bad, but at least Mark feels clean. He stands there for longer than he needs to until someone knocks on the door and he shuts off the spray and heads into his room to find something decent to wear. 

Everyone is sat around the table when he reaches the kitchen. They all look up when he enters and Mark feels like he’s walked into a trap. “Is this an intervention?” He asks, as Renjun gets up and steers him towards the only empty seat at the table. 

“No, of course not.” Jeno says at the same time Renjun pats him on the shoulder and says, “Yes.”

Mark looks down at the food in front of him and picks up his fork with a sigh. At least they had decided to cook a full meal – an intervention over soggy cereal would probably have made him feel more embarrassed about what happened last night, which by now they definitely all knew about, then he already was. 

“So, what happened yesterday?” Jaemin says, cracking his fingers and filling the silence. “Yuta just left?”

“He said we should stop messing around. Didn’t really give me a reason. Just said it was fun whilst it lasted.” Mark says. Just saying it out loud makes him feel queasy. His stomach starts to churn and his food tastes bland in his mouth. 

“I’ll kill him.” Renjun mutters. 

“And then what?” Jaemin prompts, ignoring Renjun. 

“I went to class. Felt like shit so I stopped at the store and bought myself some wine on the way home. Accidentally put on a break up playlist and finished the bottle.” Mark grimaces. It sounds worse the morning after and from the looks on everyone else’s faces, they feel the same way. “But I’m fine.”

“No you’re not, and that’s also fine.” Donghyuck says. “It’s okay if you liked him Mark, even if it was only meant to be casual.”

Mark continues to shovel rice into his mouth. 

“It’ll be okay, Mark.” Jeno says. 

Mark sets down his fork with a sigh. His appetite is completely gone. “Yeah, I know. It just sucks.”

…

Life goes on. His friends won’t allow him to mope about the apartment and Mark’s grateful – they fill the time with low energy activities to keep him busy. He spent time in the library with Renjun and Jaemin, he and Donghyuck sit and watch a bunch of B-grade horror films that have Mark sleeping with the lights on and he even goes to the gym with Jeno to burn off some steam. It’s helped immensely – Mark knows he is lucky to have his friends in his life. 

It is pure coincidence that Mark bumps into Yukhei on campus. He’s in the coffee shop, sat in the corner with some sickly sweet drink Jaemin had bought him before heading off to class. He’s got his headphones on, so he doesn’t notice Yukhei until he’s sat down in front of him and Mark jumps, coffee spilling onto the table. 

He pulls off his headphones just to catch the end of Yukhei’s apology, “– shit, that was my fault,” and then he’s gone, rushing over to the counter to pick up some napkins. 

Yukhei mops up the mess and then sits down in the seat across from Mark with a wide grin. “Long time no see! How have you been?”

Mark considers lying to Yukhei but figures being open about his feelings is step one to getting over his not-break-up. “Not great,” He admits. 

Yukhei’s grin immediately turns into a look of concern. “Oh?” He says. “What’s up?” 

“Just… boy troubles, I guess?” 

Yukhei shrugs off his jacket and takes a sip of his coffee. “I’ve not got anywhere to be. Tell me everything.”

So Mark does. Yukhei listens with wide eyes and a slight frown on his face. It’s been almost a week now, and Mark’s definitely feeling better than he did, but there’s still that underlying sadness about the whole thing that lingers in his mind. 

“Men suck.” Yukhei says. “You remember Kunhang, right? My housemate? Well his boyfriend broke up with him a couple of weeks back. Something about not having the time for a relationship and it’s like, well why the fuck did you decide to get into one in the first place?” Yukhei waves his hands around, animated. 

“Men do suck.” Mark agrees. 

“Maybe you and Kunhang should start a club.” Yukhei says. “Freshly single and ready to mingle – well maybe not yet in your case.”

Mark snorts. “Yeah, I’m going to skip on the mingling for now.”

“You should totally come over though, I’ve missed hanging out with you. Dejun’s in that play with Donghyuck so he’s always off at rehearsals so it’s just me and Kunhang smoking weed and playing Super Smash Bros until like three in the morning.” Yukhei says. 

“That actually sounds like a good time.” Mark laughs. 

“That’s because it is! Come over, dude, literally just text me and we can hang out. You’re always welcome round my place.” Yukhei says.

Mark nods. “Okay. Sounds good.”

…

Mark ends up heading to Yukhei’s place on a Saturday night. He turns up with a bag of snacks and Yukhei greets him at the door with a hug before peering into the bag. “Oh damn you really went all out.” 

“I know you get the munchies so I felt like I had to come prepared.” Mark says. 

“I love you.” Yukhei sighs. “Come on, Kunhang’s just setting up the Switch.”

Mark kicks off his shoes and heads into the living room. Kunhang waves at him as he enters and pats the space on the sofa beside him. 

“Hey, it’s been a while.” He says. 

“Yeah.” Mark can’t remember the last time he saw Kunhang – it had to have been a couple months at least. They weren’t that close, but they were both friends with Yukhei and anyone Yukhei sang praises about, Mark trusted wholeheartedly. Kunhang was funny and good company – Mark liked him a lot. “How have you been?”

“Surviving.” Kunhang laughs. “Yukhei told me you were feeling a little down so hopefully this will help you out. I will warn you, I’m kind of an expert at this though.”

“I’m terrible.” Mark grimaces. “Hyuck and Jeno banned me from playing with them.”

“I’ll teach you.” Kunhang pats his thigh and leans closer, glancing over to the doorway to the kitchen where he can see Yukhei putting the snacks into a bowl. “We can team up and kick Yukhei‘s ass.” He whispers conspiratorially. 

Yukhei comes back with two bowls of crisps and a bunch of other food, spreading it out on the coffee table, sitting in between the two of them. “Let’s play a round or two before we smoke so we can show Mark what to do.” Kunhang says, loading up the screen. 

Kunhang picks Zelda and Yukhei picks Samus (“they’re girlfriends,” Yukhei explains, and Mark just nods along). Mark spends a few minutes flicking back and forth, weighing up his options before settling on Kirby. 

“Oh good choice, Kirby eats people,” Yukhei says through a mouthful of crisps. 

Kunhang takes him through the controls and then the game starts. Mark can tell they’re going easy on him, attacking the CPUs and each other whilst he floats from one end of the screen to the other. He gets the hang of it eventually though, but gets knocked out for good after Kunhang gets the smash ball. 

“One more?” Kunhang asks. 

They play again. Mark’s getting a little more confident now – the stage is pretty easy and the CPUs are on a low enough level that they’re not that hard to beat. He’s still the first to knock out between the three of them, but he’s getting better and manages to knock out Yukhei once. 

Yukhei drops his controller onto the coffee table and stands up, stretching his arms over his head. “Time to smoke.”

It’s been a while since Mark last smoked. They pass the blunt between them, chatting about uni and Kunhang shows Mark dozens of pictures of Dejun’s family dog Bella from when they brought her to visit a few weekends ago. It’s not long before he feels lighter, the familiar foggy haze washing over him. 

If Mark had been bad at playing before, he was even worse now. The only consolation is that everyone else was too. Kunhang sets the CPU level to the highest for shits and giggles and they all get destroyed. 

“We should do this again,” Yukhei says after a while, controller abandoned on the table for the bowl of crisps in his lap. “You guys are great.”

“No, you’re great.” Mark’s feeling sleepy now. He drops his head onto Yukhei’s shoulder and closes his eyes. 

“Are you feeling any better?” Yukhei asks. 

“I can’t feel anything at the minute.” Mark wiggles his fingers and then his toes. “I’m all wobbly.”

“I think that’s a good sign.” Yukhei says. 

“It’s a great sign,” Kunhang looks over at the two of them and laughs. “Wait let me take a picture.”

Mark winces as Kunhang’s flash goes off, bringing up his hands to cover his face. 

“You guys are cute!” Kunhang says. Mark gets a glimpse of the picture – he looks out of his mind whose Yukhei has his cheeks stuffed full of food. “I’m posting this one.”

Mark doesn’t have it in him to complain. He yawns and sits up. “Man, I’m tired.”

“You can sleep in my room if you want. I’ll crash with Yukhei,” Kunhang says. “We’ve shared plenty of times.”

“Okay, thank you.” Mark yawns again. 

Kunhang leads him down the hallway and opens the door. “Sleep tight.” He says. 

Mark passed out as soon as he hits the sheets. 

  
  


Mark wakes up with a dry mouth and a headache. It takes him a moment to remember where he is and he sits up, disorientated just as there’s a knock on the door. 

“Yeah?”

Kunhang pops his head in with an apologetic smile. “Sorry I forgot to grab my glasses before I went to sleep last night.” He steps inside, a towel wrapped around his waist, hair wet and hanging down over his face. “I can’t see shit right now.”

“It’s your room, I’m the gatecrasher,” Mark says, getting out of the bed. “Is Yukhei up?”

“Yeah, he was about to order something for breakfast I think.” Kunhang pops on his glasses, round clear frames Mark has never seen him in before. He starts rummaging through his wardrobe, one hand holding his towel in place. Mark can’t help but stare at his bare chest. “He’s in the kitchen.”

He feels like he’s intruding. This is Kunhang’s room after all – it makes sense that he would want to come in and get dressed and yet here was Mark, just stood there, rooted in place. 

“Thanks.” Mark hurries out of the room.

Dejun’s in the kitchen too when Mark enters, and he pulls Mark into a hug. Mark sits with a glass of water whilst he listens to the stories from last night’s rehearsal, ones he knows he’ll hear again from Donghyuck when he gets home. Yukhei orders them breakfast and Mark hangs around for another hour before he decides it’s time for him to go. 

“Good night?” Renjun asks when Mark comes through the door. “I saw Kunhang’s post. You look so out of it.”

Mark pulls a face. “Yeah, I had a good time.”

“Good, I’m glad.” Renjun says. He pats Mark’s cheek and then wrinkles his nose. “Now go shower, you stink.”

…

**Yukhei Wong added you to the group Broken Hearts Club**

**Yukhei:** welcome 

**Kunhang:** uh i’ll have you know my heart is like 85% mended 

**Mark:** i’m not broken hearted!!!!! 

**Mark:** just experiencing some emotional turmoil 

**Yukhei:** i thought it sounded better than singles who are ready to mingle

**Yukhei:** too wordy 

**Yukhei** : anyway Mark come over this weekend we’re gonna play some GAMES!!!!

**Mark:** i’ll be there 

**Kunhang:** see you this weekend (ง^︠.^︡)ง

...

Saturday nights become routine. Kunhang is determined to find a game that Mark will excell at. The second week they play Mario Kart (Kunhang goes for Wario, Yukhei picks Princess Peach and Mark settles for Bowser) and the week after that it’s Super Mario Odyssey, where Kunhang is the Cappy to Mark’s Mario whilst Yukhei snores loudly in the background, wiped out after an essay hand in. Each week is a surprise and Mark finds himself looking forward to it. 

It’s fun – with everyone’s schedules being so hectic, it’s been a long time since Mark has been able to do something like this, a recurring date every week. More importantly, it completely takes Mark’s mind off of Yuta. He just needed time and to be distracted – he scrolls down his Instagram feed one evening to see a picture posted by Yuta and doesn’t hesitate to go to his profile and hit the unfollow button. 

Week five rolls around fast. Mark has his routine – uni work during the day, spending time with his housemates if any of them are around in the afternoon and then he heads over to Yukhei and Kunhang’s early in the evening. 

Kunhang meets him at the door with a wide grin. “Yukhei got called into work last minute.” Kunhang explains. “He says sorry and he’ll make it up to us next time.” 

Mark scoffs as he steps inside. “Don’t they understand that game night is a sacred night for us?”

Kunhang laughs. “It doesn’t matter anyway. I thought we could use this time to introduce you to one of my favourite games. It’s single player, so I didn’t want to suggest it before because I knew it would be hard to play with the three of us.”

“Well don’t leave me hanging, what game is it?” Mark asks. 

“Tonight,” Kunhang pauses for dramatic effect. “I am teaching you how to play The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.”

Kunhang sets up Mark with the controller and sits beside him on the sofa, feet tucked under him as he goes through the controls. “I’ve already played through like twice so I’ve got you.” He says. “This first part is pretty easy anyway. It takes you through all the important stuff before it lets you out into the world.”

Mark is hesitant as he starts to explore his surroundings. It’s not that he doesn’t enjoy gaming, he just prefers easier games, something like Mario Kart where the stakes are simply the shame you feel if you manage to end up in 12th place. This is completely different, something closer to Donghyuck’s realm of expertise, and Mark is out of his depth. Kunhang gives him pointers, but doesn’t instruct him on what to do and Mark’s glad – it’s more fun uncovering the secrets himself than having Kunhang spoil them all for him. 

It takes some time, but Mark slowly gets the hang of things. He meets the old man, kills his first Bokoblins and successfully unlocks his first tower. 

“I love this soundtrack.” Mark says when they pause to refill their drinks. 

Kunhang nods. “I know. It’s super calming. It’ll be stuck in your head for weeks.”

Mark nearly loses all his arrows trying to shoot a boar to collect meat for a recipe and has to rope in Kunhang to save him. Of course, he manages to kill it with one shot. At the look of despair on Mark’s face, Kunhang reaches over and pats his shoulder. “You’ll get used to it. You’re getting better!”

Before Mark realises, it’s nearly midnight. They hadn’t even gotten around to smoking – Mark had been too caught up in the game to even think about it. They decide to save the game when Mark can’t stop yawning, exhaustion taking over. “This was fun.” Mark says. “I actually think I was getting the hang of it towards the end.”

“We’ll just have to kick Yukhei out again next week so you can play without him complaining.” Kunhang laughs. “Or you could just come over another day. I don’t mind.”

“I… sure.” Mark nods. He and Kunhang are long past the point where they need Yukhei as a buffer to keep the conversation going. “That’d be fun.”

“You can stay in my room again.” Kunhang says, standing up. “I should start charging you for one night a week.”

“If it’s a bother I can go home–” Mark begins, but Kunhang shakes his head. 

“Don’t be silly. There’s no point in you paying for a taxi when you can just get the bus with your pass in the morning.” Kunhang says. “Besides you have to stay for breakfast. We didn’t smoke but we’re definitely still ordering something. It’s tradition at this point.”

“Okay,” Mark laughs. “Okay, I’ll stay.”

Kunhang grins at him and they walk towards his room. “Do you want something to change into? Normally you’re always passed out in your jeans before I can even ask you.”

“You don’t have to.” Mark says. 

Kunhang shoots him a look. “Well I want to.” He says. “Here, take these.”

He hands Mark an oversized t-shirt and a pair of shorts from his drawers. Mark holds them to his chest and is hit by a heady mix of vanilla and sandalwood. “Thanks.” 

“There’s a spare toothbrush for you in the holder as well. It’s the purple one.” Kunhang says as he looks for his own pyjamas. “I grabbed you one last time I was out since you’re here so often now. I don’t know how you live waking up and not immediately brushing your teeth after smoking, it feels so gross.”

Warmth blossoms in Mark’s chest and he can’t help but smile. “Thank you.”

Kunhang shrugs. “It’s the least I could do. See you in the morning Mark.”

Mark changes into Kunhang’s clothes. They’re a similar size so they fit pretty well. He heads to the bathroom and grabs the purple toothbrush. There’s something undeniably good knowing that he’s important enough to warrant Kunhang buying a toothbrush for him. 

Mark lies in the bed and stares up at the ceiling. It was a little strange being in here sober. He’d never had time to take in the room properly before – the cactus on the windowsill, the books stacked on the desk. It was like a home away from home at this point. Another place he could be free, be himself. 

Mark curls up in the duvet and falls asleep. 

…

It’s strange turning up to Yukhei and Kunhang’s with the rest of his friends in tow. It’s Yangyang’s birthday and they had decided to throw him a house party. Yukhei pulls Mark through the door and drags him over to Dejun who greets him with a warm hug. 

“Finally we can hang out!” Dejun shouts over the music. “Maybe when rehearsals are over and Donghyuck and I are free again we can do something with both our houses. Some sort of gaming competition maybe? Kunhang was telling me you’ve gotten good.”

“He was?” Mark asks. 

Dejun laughs. “Yeah. I swear you’re all he talks about. He’s got like a dozen more games lined up for you to try.”

“Huh.” Mark blinks. “The competition sounds like a fun idea. We should definitely do it.”

“I’ll sort it out with the others.” Dejun says, and then he’s disappearing off into the kitchen. 

Yangyang is squashed in between Donghyuck and Renjun on the sofa, Jaemin taking pictures of the three of them. Mark sits beside them, giving his wishes to the birthday boy and watching as they all mess around with the party hats littering every surface. 

He doesn’t see Yukhei or Kunhang until a little while later. Kunhang drops down beside him. He looks a little out of it, eyes red and smile easy. “Hey.” 

“Hey.” Mark says. “You been smoking?”

“Just a little bit.” Kunhang lifts up his thumb and forefinger and holds them together. “Alcohol sucks. You wanna join me?”

Mark’s barely touched his beer so he passes it off to Jeno and gets to his feet. “Yeah, why not.”

Kunhang grabs him by the hand and drags him upstairs into his room. He shuts the door behind them and Mark sits down on his bed as Kunhang hums to himself, grabbing what they need. 

Kunhang rolls the blunt with deft fingers. He hands it over to Mark first and lifts the lighter. “Here.” He says. 

They pass it back and forth between them. With the door closed, Mark can barely hear what’s going on downstairs. Kunhang can’t stop laughing. Every time they’ve smoked before, Mark’s never really seen it hit Kunhang – but maybe it’s just because he’s always so out of it himself. This time though it’s different. Maybe it’s the fact they’re alone, the fact they’re in Kunhang’s room with the door shut. Kunhang drops his hand to Mark’s thigh when the blunts done, laughing at the stupid comment Mark made and has already forgotten about. The weight of Kunhang’s palm feels heavy and warm and mostly importantly, it feels good. 

There’s just something about him. Mark can’t stop staring. Kunhang’s always been so princely, so ethereal. It’s not that it’s taken him until now to notice – just that with the weed, his word to mouth filter completely escapes him. “Hey.” Mark says. “Kunhang.”

Kunhang hums. “Yeah?”

“Can I kiss you?” Mark asks. 

Kunhang’s eyebrows shoot up and he blinks slowly. “Sure.” He says. 

He doesn’t even give Mark a second to process his answer. Kunhang pushes him back onto the bed and Mark falls back with a surprised laugh. He watches as Kunhang swings a leg over his waist until he’s perched right in Mark’s lap. Mark settles his hands on Kunhangs’s waist. “Pucker up.” Kunhang says, laughing. 

It makes Mark laugh too, so much that when their lips touch it’s nothing more than air for the first few moments, at least until Mark remembers what he wants to do and tugs lightly at Kunhang’s collar and pulls him closer. 

It changes from something slow and sloppy to something else entirely in seconds. Kunhang licks into Mark’s mouth and draws a sharp gasp from him. Mark let’s go of Kunhang’s shirt and let’s his hands wander, trailing down Kunhang’s back until they’re resting on top of his ass. He takes a chance, squeezes gently and Kunhang bucks his hips forward, groaning into Mark’s mouth. 

He pulls away panting and Mark stares up at him, the glow from the light behind him shining like a halo. “I think I’ve died.” Mark says. If this is what he sees in the afterlife, Mark thinks he’d be pretty content. 

“I think I would have noticed if that happened.” Kunhang says. He places his head to Mark’s chest. “Nope. Heart’s still beating. You’re good.”

Mark’s distracted. His hands are still firmly on Kunhang’s ass. “Has anyone ever told you that you’ve got a great ass?” 

“Maybe once or twice.” Kunhang laughs. “Yours is pretty sweet too. I’m sure poems have been written about the great Mark Lee’s posterior.” 

“I don’t think so.” Mark says. He removes a hand from Kunhang’s ass to touch his cheek and Kunhang leans into it with a smile. “No-one’s writing poetry about me, dude.”

“Well they should.” Kunhang says. “Maybe I’ll do it.” He turns his head and presses a kiss to Mark’s palm and then leans down, pressing another swift peck to his lips. “I’ll write a sonnet.” He punctuates each word with another quick kiss and Mark moves his hand to Kunhang’s neck, holding him still so they can kiss properly again. 

Mark sighs into Kunhang’s mouth. His lips are soft and his hands are making their way under Mark’s t-shirt, the tips of his fingers dancing against his skin. Mark thinks he could kiss Kunhang for an eternity and never get bored. 

Suddenly, Kunhang lifts his head. Mark tried to chase after his lips but Kunhang shakes his head. “We should start a farm.”

“What?” Mark asks, confused. 

“Stardew Valley. We should start a farm.” He gets up and Mark flops back onto the bed, minding spinning. He brings a hand to his lips and touches them gently. He can hear Kunhang rummaging around but Mark’s stuck in place, his limbs heavy and body too tired to get up. 

“Sit up!” Kunhang nudges him until Mark rolls out of the way. He’s got his Switch in his hands, fingers tapping against it as he waits for the screen to load up. 

“I’m too tired to farm.” Mark mumbles into the pillow. 

“You can just watch me then.” Kunhang says. “Come here.”

He repositions them so Mark’s lying against his chest. Kunhang has an arm around his body and Mark tilts his head so that he can see what he’s doing. 

“I’m going to name it Mark City.” Kunhang says decisively. 

The music is so relaxing and Kunhang is so warm. A high Mark is a sleepy Mark anyway, so it doesn’t take long for him to drift off in Kunhang’s arms. 

  
  


Mark wakes up the next morning to the sensation of puffs of air tickling at his neck. He opens his eyes slowly and it takes him a minute to remember where he is. He’s on his stomach, facing the wall and Kunhang’s arm is thrown across his waist, fingers gripping his shirt tight. Mark doesn’t want to move, doesn’t want to wake him, but he’s desperate for the toilet. 

As gently as he can he climbs out of the bed and tiptoes across the room to the door. The rest of the house is quiet. Mark wonders where everyone is and what else happened last night – he and Kunhang bailed so early and when the door to his room closed it felt like they’d entered another dimension. 

Once he’s finished washing his hands, he hesitates before picking up the purple toothbrush.  _ His _ toothbrush. He sighs – he knows he’s stalling. Running away would be a dick move. He had to go back to Kunhang’s room. 

He was nervous. Last night had taken a turn he hadn’t expected too and whilst he’s not mad about where it went, he doesn’t know whether he’s made a mistake. Mark doesn’t want another friends with benefits situation and Kunhang’s break up is still relatively recent. Where did that leave them?

He sighs, wipes off his mouth and steels himself before he opens the bathroom door only to see Kunhang stood outside waiting. 

“Jesus, you scared me!” Mark jumps and brings his hands to his chest. 

Kunhang laughs. “Move over,” He says, stepping into the bathroom and locking the door behind him. 

“What are you doing?” Mark asks. 

“Brushing my teeth.” Kunhang answers, picking up his toothbrush. 

“No, I mean–” Mark gestures towards the door. 

“Oh. I figured we should probably talk and you look about five seconds from running out the door so I was just taking a precaution.” He’s got his toothbrush in his mouth so it takes Mark a moment to decipher what he’s saying. “Figured it would be best to have this conversation sooner rather than later.”

“We kissed.” Mark blurts out. 

“Yup.” Kunhang says. 

Mark crosses his arms over his chest. He knows Kunhang’s watching him in the mirror, but Mark can’t meet his eyes. “I don’t want to end up in another friends with benefits situation.” Mark says. 

Kunhang rinses out his mouth and turns to face Mark, leaning back against the sink. “That’s completely fair.” He says. “You know, a month ago, I would have said I was swearing myself off dating for a while.”

“And now?” Mark asks. 

“I named my Stardew Valley farm after you.” Kunhang says. “I feel like that’s a pretty big declaration of interest.”

“Oh my god.” Mark mutters. Kunhang bursts into laughter. “Not if I don’t know what the game is or anything about it!”

“Well, there’s a simple solution to that.” Kunhang says. “I can just teach you. I think Yukhei would probably be pretty miffed if we took over the Saturday night spot to have a date night so we can always do it some other time.”

“Or you could just come to mine,” Mark says without thinking, and his cheeks feel warm at the way Kunhang raises an eyebrow. 

“Or we could just do that.” He says. “What do you think? We can do other stuff too, it doesn’t just have to be gaming – don’t look at me like that I meant going for food!” Kunhang points at Mark accusingly when Mark starts to laugh. 

“I would like that.” Mark says. “I would like that a lot.” 

Kunhang smiles so wide that Mark can’t help himself – he steps forward and kisses him softly. He can feel Kunhang smiling against his lips, his hand coming up to hold Mark’s head. 

The moment doesn’t last long. There’s a loud knock on the door and they both jump, stepping away from each other. Kunhang clears his throat as he unlocks the door and Yukhei peers into the bathroom, bleary eyed and confused. 

“Can you hurry up?” He asks. “I need to pee.”

“We’re done.” Kunhang reaches out and grabs Mark’s hand, pulling him past Yukhei. “Shout us when you’re ordering breakfast!”

“Okay?” Yukhei only looks more bewildered as Kunhang drags Mark into his room and shuts the door behind them. 

“Kiss me again.” Kunhang says, pressing Mark up against the door. “I like kissing you, Mark Lee.”

Mark’s only too happy to oblige. 

**Author's Note:**

> [twitter](https://twitter.com/seothsayers)


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